Jul 26, 2011

Arena: Charles Wang and Jay Jacobs on with Mike Francesa

Today, Charles Wang and Jay Jacobs, the chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, were on with Mike Francesa on the YES Network and WFAN to discuss the arena. Jacobs ended up embarrassing himself and the rest of the Nassau Country Democrats by showing up uneducated, misinformed and attempting to play politics like a child's game.

What a killer for the opposition to the referendum. For one, Francesa is usually against taxpayer funded arenas, and supports the new Coliseum for the better of the county. He stressed the fact that if the Coliseum were to be demolished, all of the revenue would disappear. And that is based off revenue coming in off of a subpar arena where the hockey team struggles to bring fans to the games. With a new arena and a hockey team with an incredibly bright future about to begin, that revenue would only increase, and Francesa honed in on that. Everyone would have preferred to have this as a private project such as the Lighthouse Project, but once again political games shut that down.

Jacobs claims he wants a new arena and to keep the Islanders on Long Island, but at this point, this is the last chance for the Islanders in Nassau County. Again, we all wanted this to be privately funded, but it's not happening. Sometimes you have to settle, but this has become a game of "I want credit" between the two parties, which is a sham. Jacobs, in this interview, was clearly shown to be heavily involved with this game. It's not about Long Island anymore for these people, which makes it all the more important to go out and vote.

One thing Jacobs also suggested was using PSLs, or personal seat licenses, to fund the arena. That is a ridiculous notion that wouldn't work even in a better economy and a county with lower taxes. PSLs for teams are already unpopular, suggesting that Wang could use them to build a new arena is ridiculous. Say the Islanders had 10K season ticket holders on the first day of the new arena. Divide the costs of the arena by the PSLs and you end up with a ridiculously high cost. It won't happen, nor should it.

Jacobs and the Democrats still believe there is no way the Islanders leave Nassau County, and I can only warn them now that if this vote ends up in a no or is rejected by NIFA even with a yes vote, they're in for a harsh wake up call, and very soon. This was a major moment for the vote, as Francesa reaches a very broad audience and absolutely destroyed Jacobs in every aspect possible.

On behalf of Carey and myself, we urge you to contact the Nassau County Democratic Committee at 516-294-3366 and express your frustration. The vote is in less than a week. We need this now more than ever. Put in a call and ask why Nassau politicians continue to choose their egos over the future of the Island.